1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system, an information processing device, and a printing machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A printing system in which a personal computer transmits print job data in PDL (Page Description Language) format to a printing machine, and the printing machine performs printing based on the received print job data, has been known in the art.
In such a printing system, the printing machine receives the print job data in the PDL format, performs RIP (Raster Image Processor) processing, and generates image data. In the RIP processing, the print job data is first parsed and then rasterized to generate image data. The printing machine then performs the printing based on the image data generated by the RIP processing.
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2012-22503) discloses a technology to accelerate the RIP processing by using a plurality of RIP modules to run multiple RIP processing in parallel.
However, the printing machine performs some other processes, apart from the RIP processing, upon receiving the print job data. These include processing such as mechanical initialization and job registration. In the mechanical initialization, mechanical parts such as a sheet conveying mechanism and a printing mechanism such as an inkjet head are mechanically recalibrated in accordance with the print job data received in the printing machine. In the job registration, the print job data received in the printing machine is registered in a job list.
The information required for performing the above-described processes is included in the print job data. The printing machine obtains such information by performing parsing of the print job data in the RIP processing. Therefore, if the parsing is not performed in the RIP processing, the mechanical initialization cannot be started, and depending on the time required for the mechanical initialization, completion of the mechanical initialization process gets delayed, resulting in delayed start of the printing. Moreover, the print job data cannot be registered unless the parsing is performed in the RIP processing. This may result in delayed status update so that the user cannot confirm whether the print job data has been received in the printing machine.
In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, although the RIP processing can be accelerated by use of a plurality of the RIP modules, unless the data parsing is performed in the RIP processing, the mechanical initialization or the job registration cannot be performed.
Accordingly, in a printing machine that has received print job data, waiting for the data parsing to be performed in the RIP processing in order to perform all the other processes apart from the RIP processing, results in process inefficiency. This demanded improvement in the efficiency of processes included in the RIP processing and the other processes that are performed in the printing machine upon receiving the print job data.